A tale of two retirements

Colin Mason started working for B&Q in Bristol four years ago at 67. He was previously an entertainment manager at Butlin's. 'I was bored with retirement, especially in the winter. I had a very active life and my wife, who's younger than me, still works. I do demonstrations; it was changing a washer or a plug and now it's grown into laying bricks and using power tools. 'I retired with a pension, but this work means I can go on holiday too, run a nice motor car. It helps enormously. I earn three times my state pension at B&Q. Almost one in five of the people who work in my store is over retirement age. I'd be happy to go on doing this for another 10 years.'

Maryly La Follette is 60 and retired seven weeks ago. She was a London solicitor. 'I was counting the days down since I reached 1,000, just over two and a half years ago. I'm enormously relieved about being retired. I worked in a terribly stimulating and happy environment and had enormous fun and great colleagues, but now I need to do something else. 'I want a third part to my life, to do the things I haven't done such as studying languages, learning to weave, enjoying my family, travel and my friends. I've adopted a new puppy. I'd have been horrified to be expected to work after 60 years of looking forward to this. I'd have regarded it as a terrible imposition. I'd have sold my soul to avoid it.'

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